Sunday, November 24, 2013

Accountability

Posted by Sue Bradford Edwards at 1:00 AM

Maybe
it’s because writing is a solitary task, but we writers love programs and challenges
that hold us accountable. Sign up and
you have a public statement of your goals and a group of writers to hold you to
them. There are several programs to help
you get your ideas and initial drafts down on paper.

NaNoWriMo. This
one is going on right now and is for novelists.National Novel Writing Month challenges writers to draft a new novel in
one month.Because novels can vary in
length, that’s 50,000 words or just under 1700 words/day.

12 x 12. This
program is run by Julie Hedlund.In it,
she challenges authors to write a finished first draft of 12 picture books in
one year.Ideally, writers can break
this down into one manuscript a month but I didn’t spot any monthly
deadlines.

PiBoIdMo. Picture
Book Idea Month, obviously, is another one that targets picture book writers
and author/illustrators.As the name
suggests, everyone is challenged to come up with 30 picture book ideas by the
end of November.They can be ideas for
characters, plots, titles or all of the above.

While
these three programs are good, they do after all, provide external deadlines
and accountability, they don’t provide it in the area that I most need it. I’m a champ at idea generation. And first drafts are tons of fun. After all, the idea is still perfect until
you get it on the page. That’s when you
realize you have more work to do and you face a decision. Revise or start something new?

If
you are anything like me, you have file drawers and computer files full of
drafts. Some of them are first
drafts. Others just need that final
polish. But there they sit while we run
off in pursuit of the next perfect story.
Fortunately, there are also groups that hold us accountable in our
attempts to rewrite.

ReviMo 2014.This
is a one week program organized by fellow Missouri author Meg Miller.Throughout the week of January 12-18, she
challenges participants to write (as in complete) picture book revisions.Half a revision doesn’t count.To add your numbers to the total, you need to
start and finish a revision and you are encouraged to do more than one revision
over the course of the week.

NaNoEdMo. National
Novel Editing Month provides novelists who participated in NaNoWriMo with an opportunity
to spend 50 hours revising what they drafted in November.

While
none of these programs guarantee a submission ready product, they do get you
one step farther along.

If
you know of any other programs that provide some level of accountability, add
them in the comments below.

I am one of those people who definitely needs accountability, or I'll let ideas float around in my head and never do anything with them. I've been doing NaNoWriMo for the first time this month, and while it's been tough, I've definitely cranked out some words for my YA. One more week! I have a friend who's been participating in the 12 x 12 project, too. What month is NaNoEdMo? Because I have a feeling I'l definitely need some motivation for the revision process this go round.